Simon's Birthday Weekend

Nadia here:

At last, Simon has reached the grand age of 26, and he can no longer legitimately darken MAP's doorstep and ask for information, advice or counselling. Phew. Celebrations were long, lasting the weekend and involving his parents coming up to visit and paying for the car to be serviced (kindness itself I must say). Friday night I ventured out without them all to the beer festival and managed to return home just about coherent, Saturday we went for an Indian at the Ali Tandoori where we noted surprise at not having seen Jon Broadley yet. A minute later he, Adam and Anne walked in and were placed at the table next to us! And on Sunday, we went to the pub for lunch and games. I am officially exhausted today as that is a great deal for one social calendar. Now over to the ex birthday boy who will explain the presence of Optimus Prime.

Simon here! Mr Prime just above was a birthday present courtesy of Josh, Emma and Toby (another guy at FXhome). I've since been transforming it from robot to truck incessently, much to the annoyance of Nadia and rather negating my recent advance to 26 years of age. Nadia's covered most of the weekend, it was great fun - thanks for the cool presents everyone!

Shame Chris and Jenny weren't about for the beer festival, but I think that Nadia drank for the both of you this year. :)

Cheers!

Wednesday 25th October - Wayne, Nigel James and Myself went to the Beer Festival to "support local industries".

After a few pints including Stoatwobbler, Butcombe, and Badger's Bottom we decided to give our liver's a second chance and head home via The St Andrews Tavern..... and then The Plough...where I fell asleep in the corner whilst some beardy long hairs played 60s chill out folk music and others clapped and played tabourines. No, it really happened, I didn't dream it!

More pics on Flickr.

Lulu

Live from... Kibblestone?

I remember two years past when were all snuggled up cosy-like in a castle (youth hostel) watching the snow float past outside the windows and saying something along the lines of "Hah - foolish Unicrons, having an outdoor event at this time of year".

So there I was two years later with the torrential rain leaking through my second-best Ref hat at the Unicorn Winter Parliament thinking ironic thoughts.

All-in-all a pretty good event with lots of plot (twenty-one linears anyone?), weather that occasionally stopped raining and an only minor personal injury caused by a combination of darkness, wetness, a chasing of ref-after-fleeing-monster and minor(ish) amounts of alcamohol. Well, at least it's a sprain on my left arm. Ahem.

Chris (B).

Above: Photo of "Doc" Duval opening one of the fanmail letters from the (mainly goblinoid) Duval Fanclub.

A complete and total mezze!

Wa Hey! Many happy returns to Mr Coleman in who's honour many of us went and had a slap up Lebanese meal at Three Ways in Norwich.

There was kebabs, falafel type things and lashings of humous. Check out Flickr for a few blurry photos of the evening.

Ollie Read!

Lulu

Kendolicious

Well done to Nigel and "Little" Paul (who you probably don't know) on passing their 1st Dan gradings in kendo last weekend.

Lucky for them that me and "Big" Paul (he was a foot in the popular childrens programme Knightmare don't you know) can start fencing them as Dan grades now, and we don't have to be so easy on them anymore.

Wayne

(btw the artwork is Original Artwork by Nigel Potter, Manager Oddbins, Norwich. More of his work can be found at http://www.nevermore.uk.net )

This weeks condiment....

An old favourite from the fine city of Norwich!

Will go particularly well with the bacon roll I'm about to consume on this fine Friday morning.

In fact today should be quite a good eating day, with roast beef scheduled in for lunch, and dinner at the Lebanese restaurant this evening. Might be a bit excessive, maybe just salad for lunch.

Cheers,

James

Norwich Beer Festival

The annual beer festival is almost here and this year it will be a double celebration as it's also Simon's Birthday!

Keep an eye on posted comments for any dates and times of group visits.

My Mate....Marmite

On the subject of great food items that you can generally only easily get in the UK, and that you miss when abroad, here's one for Chris and Jen, although I can't remember if Jen loves or hates it....

I've been on a very 'interesting' course on business system analysis this week learning all about B5 diagrams, SWOTS, TOWS, DFDs, WPDs and all sorts. Will be returning to work next week armed with a whole new range of acronyms to use to really irritate people....excellent!

Now I feel it might be a good time to nip to the Bel Vue for an early bird special and a few pints!

Cheers for now,

James

Frank's Guide to Music Festivals 2007

Everyone knows about the overcrowded and vastly overpriced Download Festival, so I thought I’d point out some of the more obscure festivals taking place around Europe next year, including the ones I’m set to attend. This list is bound to grow as time goes on, so check my blog at x66.co.uk occasionally for updates.

1. Wave Gotik Treffen

Location: Leibzig, Germany. Date: 25 - 28/05/2007

Not terribly obscure, this gigantic city-spanning event is nevertheless often overlooked. A lot of the time it’s because their line-up is announced relatively late, or because of the hundreds of bands playing, the few one recognises makes it seem like they’re won’t be enough bands one likes. Wrong! Anyone who’s into goth, industrial, cyber, or (because this is Germany after all) gothic metal and heavier stuff will be catered for. The various stages are divided by genre so if you find one that lists a couple of bands that you know and like you’re pretty much guaranteed to like the other ones playing there. Never a better way to get introduced to bands. Add German beer, the medieval and viking markets and the general atmosphere of the whole thing, and this a winner.

In my opinion the best way to enjoy this festival is from the wonderfully centrally placed Holiday Inn, but that sells out quickly. I would advise anyone interested to book accomodation straight away, even if festival tickets aren’t on sale yet.

Attending: Yes.

2. ProgPower Festival UK

Location: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Date: 31/03/2007

Don’t let the name put you off. Headliners this year are Jon Oliva’s Pain - that’s Jon Oliva of (currently on hiatus) Savatage mastermind fame. Some of you may recall Savatage’s song Believe as the first song Karen and I danced to on our wedding.

Also on the bill: Kamelot, Scar Symmetry, Communic, Leaves’ Eyes, and many more. The whole thing is held at the Centaur indoor arena.

Attending: Yes.

3. Metal Camp 2007

Location: Tolmin, Slovenia. Date: TBC.

We went to this one last year and it was fantastic. Great weather, awesome location in a picturesque valley in western Slovenia, and great line-up made this festival a sure winner, and - if we’d opted for camping - cheaper than Download, flights included!

Not sure if we can make it this year, especially with WGT, but perhaps this is one for alternate years. I’ve got pictures from Metal Camp 2006 for those wanting an idea of what it was like.

Attending: To be decided.

Ummmm, mulled wine....

Wayne, Nigel, James and Lulu roadtest the new firepit and try out the season's first batch of mulled wine.

Hello from Tarn

Ooh, this is fun. Not sure I'm doing it right, mind you...so fingers crossed I don't break anything!

I've been really busy lately moving into new offices with my job, first time we've all been in the same place rather than working from home. So far it's all gone really well!

If Chris and Jen (or anybody else, for that matter) fancies a bit of a chuckle at my expense, you might like to check out a couple of news articles we did that include some silly videos of me. You can find them here:

http://fxhome.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25932

and here:

http://fxhome.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26056

Hopefully the embedded videos should work, providing you have Flash installed!

Mmmmm, Lebanese.


Cheers!

Simon

Any excuse.....

INVITE!
Just because Chris isn't here to celebrate his birthday doesn't mean we can't do it anyway. So...if you're free on Friday 20th October and fancy some Lebanese food please contact Lulu (ASAP) to let her know so she can book a seat at the restaurant for you.

Yee Haaaa!

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Another lovely day at work.

Never start 5 minute jobs unless you have at least seven hours to devote to them ;)

Wayne

Live From Norwich It's the Blog of the Week

As with all good ideas, this one started in the pub. James, Lucy, Nigel and myself were all chatting as to how funky (I'm not sure if that's the actual terminology we used) Chris and Jen's Travel Blog is, that we thought it might be nice if we could recipricate and do a blog of updates as to what's going on in Norwich - hey, why let Chris and Jen have all the fun.

So here it is, a Norwich blog that I'll get round to letting people contribute to to try and keep Chris and Jen updated with what's going on.

As with most of our ideas, I expect we'll do this for a couple of weeks then forget about it!

Ta
Wayne